has to take up short-term federal spending with the current measure expiring monday at midnight. the house will be live at 2:00 p.m. eastern. the senate returns tuesday for the veto override and they will gavel in tuesday. you can follow that on c-span2. vermont governor phil scott is briefing on his state's covid-19 response. he will be joined by vermont health officials. we will have live coverage at 11:00 eastern, and online at c-span.org, or on the free radio app. ♪ c-span, yourtching unfiltered view of government. it was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 viewers as a public service. to viewers as a public service.

with politicians getting the vaccine on video and other means, twitter is a place where some members of congress are doing that same thing. presley of massachusetts saying -- today i received my first dose of the covid-19 vaccine as part of the continuity of government plan. i am feeling well. i encourage everyone to take the to take thertunity first let's receive the vaccine in the weeks and months to come. marco rubio, i know i looked away from the needle but i am so glad the covid-19 vaccine is safe and affected that i decide to take it myself. this prompted reaction from senator rand paul who said, i was asked about getting a vaccine. it is inappropriate for me who has already gotten the virus and has immunity to get it in front of elderly/health-care workers.

same goes for aoc or any young healthy person. they should be among last, not first. she said, maybe if the gop had not spent such time undermining public faith in science, masks, and covid itself, i wouldn't have to weigh the potential miss info consequences of what would happen if leaders urged people to take a new vaccine that we weren't taking ourselves. that is some of the twitter response. the continuity of government, it goes to the national security act of 1947. it is the policy of the united states to maintain comprehensive continuity programs to ensure national security and the preservation of government structure on the united ace constitution, and in alignment with presidential policy directive 40, agencies including the executive office he must --lude the capability and

regardless of the threat or condition and with understanding that adequate warning may not be available. the agency has a fully integrated preparedness program and ensure the preservation of this under all conditions. the legal terms from the national security act prompted a column by the washington post this ont -- who wrote the idea of congressional vaccinations -- the very folks who downplayed the virus, partied, and called the vaccine a hoax are getting the vaccine ahead of front line and essential workers, and even the vulnerable residents in long-term care facilities. though you could make the argument that the capital is a the congress can largely order from every senior citizens menu, that is not what

gets them the vaccine and not their vip status, another perk to go with the primo health care and schedules they experience while the country is a mess -- nation is a hot mess. here is how you can let us know your thoughts on this. (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text at (202) 748-8003 and post on facebook and twitter. as you are calling in to make those comments, couple of pieces of news concerning the last 24 hours or so. highlighting the president vetoing the national defense bill which funds the defense department, which congress could override and plans to do, saying the president announced the legislation for not including

language to strip social medias of the protections under the decency act, and the president announcing the bill to renew -- remove the names of confederate leaders. the president opposes renaming the bases. that will come back later this month and they plan to do that. the part that is being added to by the president, one recipient of the part was a family member, charles kushner, the father of son-in-law jared kushner, to others who were pardoned in trying to cooperate. , 20 16 campaign chairman, roger stone, longtime advisor and friend were the most of 26ent names in a list pardons before he left for the holidays. the president was making comments concerning the covid

relief bill, calling for increased dollar figures of $2000. topic in ato be the pro forma session at 9:00 to the house, which we will take you to once it gavels in, and take you back to the show once it gavels out. reuters saying democrats in the u.s. house to win quick passage of legislation providing $2000 in direct payments to americans as part of the coronavirus economic relief initiative. bidstakes in this longshot are enormous as millions of americans desperately await some sort of new assistance from washington. you will hear the speaker of the house make that charge and from the opposite, opposing views from the minority leader kevin mccarthy expected to make comments. look for that at 9:00. to the idea of members of congress and politicians being the first ones up to get the vaccine, the covid-19 vaccine, inyour thoughts, amin

temple, texas, democrats line, what do you think western mark caller: what i think about that as they should not only not be the first, they should be the last, the congress and the senate. they hadirst came out, a chance to prepare us for what was going on, but them and the president not telling us the truth, we have over 300,000 deaths right now, and the president, if he would have been impeached like he should have been, he wouldn't be in office now and we wouldn't have those deaths. members ofe idea of congress being last, why absolute last? caller: they were the ones running around without masks on having these big gatherings and things, making the people that's here think everything is all right.

here in texas, they just opened up a new resort in this resort has an inside water function. i passed by there three weeks ago and it was completely packed. kenneth in hear from columbus, georgia, next up. caller: how are you doing? host: i am fine, go ahead. caller: i believe congress should be first. i believe the first thing going on is that there is disarray in the country. the only way to get congress in the country is to lead by example. unfortunately, our president is not leading by example because of the fact our congress or the senate, because they should not have left to go home until this package was assigned and everybody was taking care of -- was assigned and everybody was

taken care of. until we can see a congress that we can see the senate and congress are taking the shots so there is no problem, they can put their arms around people to make sure that they feel like it is safe so we can go and get everybody the shots and they will feel comfortable about taking them. host: so the continuity of government, to make sure government performs even in light of a pandemic, that is an important thing to note in terms of congressmen and members of congress getting the shot first? caller: yes, absolutely. i think that that is important that we see that people who do take the shot, if you start with people you never see anybody have any results on taking the shot, there is going to be a lot more people leery of taking the shots. ishink the best way to do it

to make sure that everybody is comfortable and they are going in line to take the shots instead of so many people who are afraid to take the shots because of the fact of how fast it was produced. host: we will hear from karen in muncie, indiana, our line for democrats. hello. caller: hello. yes, i do have an opinion. i would say if they were doing their job, yes, they would be considered essential workers. but right now, no, put them at the end of the line. all they are interested in is and who theycks can pardon. host: when it comes to members of congress, if they aren't doing their jobs, tell me how they are not doing their jobs at this point. caller: every time they almost get the bill signed, then there

is -- for the relief -- then there is some other problem and they all go home. now they are probably going to go home for christmas, with the government waiting to be shut down, and the people, the starving -- i'm not, but there are starving people out there who are about to be booted out of their houses, and these politicians line up on tv and show how important it is to get shot. no. don't do it. host: karen in indiana giving us her thoughts. ralph in jamestown, maryland, publican line. what do you think about pot visions -- republican line. what do you think about politicians getting the vaccine first? caller: i don't have any concerns with that. i am one of the nonessentials so

i am way down the line. my only wish is that i would wish that the irs would consider me non-essential when it comes to paying taxes. host: why do you not have concerns about politicians being first? caller: it just simply doesn't bother me. go ahead, find, get their shots. -- fine, get their shots. host: that is ralph on the republican line. yes, they should, so the rest of people can have faith in the vaccine. indiana also facebook saying absolutely not, especially not the ones who played down the pandemic, got sick, and had top-of-the-line health care. let them suffer. most of them are close to their 80's, so yes. greg from facebook saying it should be those essential workers first.

that sure as hell isn't congress. can share yourou thoughts on facebook, twitter too, on whether congress people should be prioritized. kansas city, missouri. caller: i don't think they should be prioritized. i think they probably should wait at the bottom of the line to the lowliest of the homeless have been vaccinated. host: as far as the reason why, this idea of keeping government going and making sure there is a continuity of government argument that we have told you about, you think that is not a valid argument? caller: i don't believe it is a valid argument. host: why not? caller: i don't think the down.ment has ever shut i don't think that shutting down the government would have any impact on our economy. host: we are talking about

vaccines and if members should get them first. caller: i don't think they should be vaccinated until the lowliest of the homeless have been vaccinated. hill inis is from the recent days, representative omar, the democrat from minnesota breaking with other members of what is known as the squad by deciding not to get a coronavirus vaccine available to members, saying it was "shameful" that political figures got the vaccine because "importance." serious question, is seemingly our entire top political leadership getting the vaccine ahead of others because of their age or their importance? if it makes -- it would make sense if it was age, but in fortunately it's unfortunate and shameful. we are not in front of frontline workers.

people who need it the most should get it. those are her comments from recent days on this topic. we will go to jeff in waldorf, maryland. caller: i don't think they should get the vaccine first. one of the other things with them getting the vaccine first is look at the stimulus bill they passed. pppthe people who got the money for companies to stay open and keep their employees on the books, they are now going to get that tax break for getting free money. that is ludicrous. host: to the idea of why they shouldn't get it first, expand on that. caller: because you didn't do nothing while this whole pandemic was going on. mitch mcconnell sat there and tried to block anything that came through the house and senate. basically, it doesn't make sense. why should we be rewarded for

doing nothing? host: you saw the tweet from ayanna pressley of boston getting her vaccine. thetory follows up in " boston globe," saying representative presley wanted to boost confidence in the vaccine among black and brown communities whose trust in the health care system has been eroded over experiments. research andur medical institutions, our elected officials, and our collective public health response to make amends and earn the trust of communities of color as we distribute the vaccine and rebuild. herbert in port washington, maryland. caller: my main thing is they shouldn't get it first. i am 76 years old, i can't get it. why should they get it first? they should be getting it.

i need it andme, i cannot get it. i am 76 years old. just because of who they are. they should be ashamed of himself. i will stop you there because partly they connection, but thanks for the call. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. bill in vermont saying -- politicians should be last in line to get vaccinated. that is the best way to grade their performance in distributing the vaccine to the rest of us. bill in connecticut saying -- this is further infantile. the smart parent figures are getting the vaccine teen. an interpretation of a certain mindset of health. other people have other ways to remain disease-free and those way should be respected.

-- let theesota naysayers in congress go first to strike the point home. michelle in illinois saying -- i think anywhere that houses large swaths of people should be prioritized, hospitals, old folks homes, and yes, congress. let's not forget herman cain died. just because we can't see these things being done, doesn't mean they are not happening. twitter and facebook available too if you want. marion, ohio, republican nine, this is rich. caller: hi. it seems to be complicated who gets it first. first we don't even have one and then who is going to get it first gets to be a big argument, which is important. i think the illegals should get it so we don't get infected. i think biden should rush the border with a whole lot of illegals and in order to do that

to make sure they can get in our country, we will give up thanksgiving and christmas. host: where do politicians fall on that list? hello? i think illegals would come ahead because they can affect all of us with the next version. as far as politicians, should they be higher up? should they wait? where should they be? caller: the illegals should come ahead of politicians so we don't get infected. host: you made that point twice. rick and oblong, illinois, democrats line. caller: the image that i can't get out of my head is of matt gaetz wearing a mask, a gas mask on the floor to mock the fear of the entire country, and i understand the theory of government continuity, but the only thing that seems to be continuous is chaos and

dysfunction. so i'm not sure what continuity means at this point. host: so as far as politicians being prioritized, what do you think about that? caller: all frontline workers absolutely first. then our senior citizens. maybe they can prioritize the politicians by their age. least init wrong, at your mind, as a politician -- i know that frontline workers are certain category, but they don't fall into that category as people who need to have this vaccine so the business of government can keep going? caller: i know we need the government to keep going. the problem is right now is that they are so dysfunctional as far as trying to get a stimulus package passed when it looks like they have a deal. somebody throws in a last-minute snag and we are back to square one again. i do not believe the $2000 will

get past. continuity, see any the thing they are stressing. host: rick in illinois, to that last point he brought up when it comes to the covid relief bill, it is attached to the spending bill for congress which needs to be government-funded. 9:00 is when the house will gavel in for a pro forma session , usually just a couple of perfunctory actions and they gather dust gavel out, but you will see leadership -- gavel out, but you will see leadership on the floor to increase the figure of the covid relief bill. when they gavel out, we will continue with our program. democrats line, anita, go ahead. caller: thanks for having me on this morning. this is a dilemma because it is not just that it is about 600 members of congress that would

be vaccinated. it is all their staff, thousands and thousands of people. probablythese vaccines could go to a higher priority first of our frontline workers, high-risk people, even people in supermarkets and walmart cashiers might even be a little head of -- ahead of priority for congress to do all their work, via all the high-tech equipment they have zoom meetings and teleconferences. i think they should wait until they fall into a high risk route but if they will all get together and sit by side and work at fixing these problems, which i don't see any remedy to at this point, they are so divided, that maybe the whole point of them doing this is actually moot. host: anita from pennsylvania giving her thoughts on politicians and if they should be prioritized. website, it npr's

highlights the behind-the-scenes work when it comes to vaccines and members of congress saying it was the senate majority leader, the house speaker, and top democrat chuck schumer among the first wave of members to take part. lawmakers "will be provided with a specific number of covid-19 vaccines to meet long-standing requirements for continuity of government actions." in a monahan writing december 17 note to congress. by december, about 50 lawmakers and more than 200 20 workers tested positive for were presumed so for the illness. this past summer, a florida member's aid died from covid. without a widespread testing program for its part, the democratically controlled house saw emergency proxy voting, emergency hearings in may, and in november, speaker pelosi triggered a broader covid-19

testing program for congress following new requirement for travelers to the washington area. mark from yukon, oklahoma, independent line. caller: how are you? host: i am well, thanks. go ahead. caller: it is a controversial topic, but if the united states was under attack, that we would then protect the leadership, so this pandemic, i relate it to an attack on the united states and therefore we should protect our politicians by requiring that they take a vaccine in order to ultimately end up in case of an emergency situation as we have, being able to make decisions for us as a nation. host: if you are interested in finding out when it comes to members of congress and how congress has been impacted by contract out go to u.s., they have -- contract out

105, they have representatives and senators self-quarantining after commenting -- coming into contact with someone with covid-19 or testing positive themselves. that is several times. senators and how representatives performed. oftracks senators, members the house of representatives, and breaks it down individually by legislator to see how that fairs out. if you would like to check that out, go track. u.s.. louis from rapid city, south dakota, republican line. caller: good morning. i wanted to call and say i am all for the politicians in washington being the first ones to get the virus vaccine. couldn't find a better bunch of guinea pigs anywhere else than

in our government, so let's give it to them first in case there is a problem with it. host: louis in rapid city giving his thoughts. one person giving their thoughts on this topic, the kentucky governor andy beshear. he was asked why he received a vaccine. >> i was vaccinated for two reasons. cdcdirector of the personally asked myself and every other governor to get vaccinated publicly as soon as possible to build confidence in this vaccine. we have followed the directions of the cdc. the governor of florida hasn't. it is his refusal to put in a mass mandate or do what is necessary to stop the current surge, we look at the significant death that state has experienced. maybe he ought to listen to the cdc director a little bit more. the second reason was dr. stack recommended it at the top of

every level of government. at the top of the judiciary, the top of the two legislative branches, and the top of the executive branch. we were certainly not the first, about 7000 before, but there is real hesitancy out there. for anybody to broadcast, i didn't just take it, the first lady took it. i would never suggest that to her, it would ultimately be her decision, if i believed it was not fully and entirely safe. that is what i want the people of the commonwealth to know. i believe it in my heart, believe it enough to watch britney take a vaccine. it is safe and it is a christmas miracle. we have to make sure, especially with this new strand in the united kingdom, that we have 70% or 80% of kentuckians and americans vaccinated. host: that was kentucky governor

andy beshear. on his twitter feed, there is a photo of band-aids covering where he and the first lady got the shots. this was dated december 22. patrick in tuscaloosa, alabama, democrats line. caller: thank you for this call. i am concerned about the politicians. gotow that a lot of them the coronavirus, saying it was rounding the corner and everything. it seems to be -- they seem to be the first person in line to take a shot to try to convince everybody that it is safe, but really, they really don't believe. they're just trying to save yourself. everybody want to save their self. host: you don't think ultimately if they believed in it, they would take the shot? caller: well, they would take it, but really, in other words,

everybody really just trying to -- it is going to be really like for rich people. start sellingll the coronavirus on side like drugs. there is going to be a black market for everything. host: patrick in alabama. the moderna vaccine, the second vaccine being distributed across the united states following pfizer's vaccine, you saw pictures of this happening earlier this week on the rollout happened. that, politicians and whether or not they should be prioritized for this. is (202) 748-8001 for republicans, democrats, (202) 748-8000, independents, (202)

748-8002. you can text (202) 748-8003. one this morning, "the elderly in assisted living facilities are in phase one. congress kind of it is an old folks home. politicians should not beginning the vaccine person left they have a medical issue and age that puts them in the high risk of being in the 0.01% that dies nearly immediately from this pandemic level virus." what i am concerned about our what are the ends act -- what are the exact ingredients in this coronavirus vaccine and what do they do. i am quoting from health keepers magazine in 2008, an article written by mayor eisenstein, md, jd, and masters of public health, mph.

he says vaccines contain midi ingredients of which the public is not aware. host: that aside, the prioritization of palletization's -- of politicians which you think of that? caller: i don't care. host: but why don't you? aldehyde --ol, from are in vaccines in production. host: ok. we will go to rose marie, st. petersburg, florida. you are on. caller: hi. thes just calling to say politicians getting the vaccine -- can you hear me? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: the politicians getting the vaccine first, one thing about that, i think people in that position have a better chance of social distancing than i do because they have big homes, they have this, they have all of that. for them to get the vaccine

first, it just seems kind of selfish, and in a way, they want to show us that it is safe and everything that. thinking,mind, i am do they really get that covid vaccine? because this administration under donald trump have been such croaks, i don't really trust -- been such crooks, i don't really trust them with anything. i do trust the scientists, and i have the utmost respect for dr. fauci. host: when you hear congress saying they want to lead by example in getting the vaccine, do you believe that? caller: some i do and some i don't. it is a deadly thing now. host: if i may ask, when you say some you do believe in some you don't, how do you decide that? caller: i decide on their behavior as far as how they act in the government because i am a registered voter and i vote all the time.

so i go by their past concerns about the people as opposed to ,ust now with the covid virus and everybody is running scared. so i go by their track record. that is what i determine things by, where my choice comes in as far as the politician is concerned. host: that is rose marie in st. peter's regard -- inseam petersburg, florida. from new york, we hear next from cy. caller: good morning. i think this is just an example of the hypocrisy of our political class. they hold themselves out as elitist. they go to a fancy restaurant. gavin newsom, without a mask. nancy pelosi has a beauty parlor open for her without a mask. it seems the rules don't apply to them. this is another example of why they are held in such low

self-esteem. host: how does that apply to them directly getting the vaccines first? caller:caller: because the elitist class feels that they are first, they are better than us. they are entitled. we have to wait our turn. 31-year-oldz is a woman who is not immuno compromised. the old people should get the vaccines. >> we go live now to montpelier, vermont, for an update from governor scott on the covert response. >> thank you, everyone, i know that many begin holiday festivities today on christmas eve. dr. levine and i will be somewhat brief but we thought it was important to keep to our twice weekly schedule and make t